Hundreds flee Taliban in south Afghanistan

Candace Rondeaux and Javed Hamdard, Washington Post

Published
4:00 am PDT, Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Afghans carry their belongings on a tractor as they leave the Arghandab district, which is partly controlled by the Taliban militants, for the city of Kandarhar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, June 17, 2008. "Last night the people were afraid, and families on tractors, trucks and taxis fled the area," said Mohammad. "Small bridges inside the villages have been destroyed." (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan) less

Afghans carry their belongings on a tractor as they leave the Arghandab district, which is partly controlled by the Taliban militants, for the city of Kandarhar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, ... more

Photo: Allauddiin Khan, AP

Photo: Allauddiin Khan, AP

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Afghans carry their belongings on a tractor as they leave the Arghandab district, which is partly controlled by the Taliban militants, for the city of Kandarhar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, June 17, 2008. "Last night the people were afraid, and families on tractors, trucks and taxis fled the area," said Mohammad. "Small bridges inside the villages have been destroyed." (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan) less

Afghans carry their belongings on a tractor as they leave the Arghandab district, which is partly controlled by the Taliban militants, for the city of Kandarhar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, ... more

Photo: Allauddiin Khan, AP

Hundreds flee Taliban in south Afghanistan

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Hundreds of residents fled several villages in southern Afghanistan Tuesday after Taliban fighters began the next phase of a major offensive near the country's second-largest city, according to Afghan government officials.

Residents of Arghandab district, northwest of Kandahar, began leaving their homes after hundreds of Taliban fighters took control of nine villages. The fighters blew up three bridges in the district and began laying mines along several key roads, according to Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and head of the Kandahar provincial council. Hundreds of Afghan and NATO troops were on the move in the area in preparation for a counteroffensive, Karzai said.

"NATO and Afghan forces are moving forward and ready and about to attack, but I don't know when," he said.

There were conflicting reports on the number of residents who had fled. In interviews, officials near Arghandab estimated that at least 100 families had left the district and moved to safer areas in Kandahar city. A police official in Arghandab, meanwhile, told the Associated Press that about 700 families had fled.

NATO officials with the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan disputed reports about Taliban activity in the area Tuesday, saying there was no indication that the insurgents' offensive in Arghandab had forced residents to leave.

Gen. Carlos Brancos, a spokesman for the security force, acknowledged that at least one explosion had been reported in the region. But he said NATO had air-dropped leaflets in and around Arghandab, warning residents to stay inside their homes.

Tensions have been on the rise in Kandahar province since Friday, when more than 1,000 inmates, including Taliban fighters, escaped from a jail during a sophisticated suicide bomb attack.

Two days later, Taliban fighters slipped into Arghandab, setting up several checkpoints in the district. Wali said about 300 Taliban insurgents attacked Arghandab from the north while 200 attacked from the south. Local and Western military officials said they believe at least some of the insurgents were joined by escaped Taliban prisoners.

Kandahar, a city of about 450,000, was home to Afghanistan's first rulers and is still is considered the center of political power in the country.

The security force and Afghan army troops began deploying to the region soon after the latest Taliban offensive. Hundreds more were expected to join the counteroffensive late Tuesday.